Wringer



Aug. '13, .1946.

Filed. Sept. s, 1943 2 Shets-Sheet 1 27' 5 Z5 ITH'H1'. 24

Au 13,1946. "O'.E.JOIHNSON I 0 WRINGER Filed Se t. e, 1945 2 Sheets-Shet2 fizz/safer 0% E Johnson,

Patented Aug. 13, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WRINGER Otto E.Johnson, Chicago; Ill.

Application September 6, 1943, Serial No. 501,352 2 Claims. (o1. 68-265)This invention. relates to an improvement in wringer construction foruse in laundering operations primarily for dehydrating clothes afterthey have been laundered preparatory to drying.

One object of my invention is to provide safety guards for a wringer sodesigned to protect the fingers of the operator. Clothes fed thru theordinary wringers make it necessary for an operator to get an end of thegarment close enough to the rolls to be gripped,' and ofttimes operatorsin their effort to get the clothes started carelessly or accidentallyget their fingers caught between the moving rolls and ofttimes theclothes after being started will have a tendency to catch and wind aboutthe rolls. These are objections which are to be prevented by the use ofsuch structure as I have provided and which comprises my invention, theobject being to prevent accidental grabbing or pinching of thefingerswithin the wringer or between the rolls, and also to providemeans for stripping the clothes and facilitating their ejection from theopposite side of the wringer thus preventing bunching' up and catchingof the clothes about the wringer rolls. This also has a tendency toprevent injuring the clothes and thus makes for a more efficientoperation.

Another object of my invention is to provide guard meanswhich aremounted on the roller the maximum of protection, inasmuch as the upperguard practically covers the rollers thruout their entire length exceptfor the said central.

feed opening, thus minimizing danger to'anyone operating the wringer.

Another object of my invention is to provide a wringer and guardstructure which permits feeding the material into the wringer' fromeither the right or left hand side, in which event the rotation of therollers is similarly reversed to suit conditions; the direction ofrotation being away from the operator.

Another object of my invention is to provide a guard structure which isuseful and eificient in its operation as well as practical in"construction,

and utility of my invention.

Fig; 2 is an end view of Figure l, with certain portions thereof insection in order to show more clearly the structure of the componentelements comprising my invention.

Fig. 2a is a fragmentary end view showing the rolls in their outer-mostposition when looking at Figure 2, showing material fed between therolls, showing at the same time the position of the guard with respectto the movement occasioned by the material being introduced between thewringer rolls.

Fig. 3 is a slightly enlarged fragmentary top view taken on the line3'-3 of Figure I,

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the upper guard comprising my invention.

Fig; 5 is a perspective view of the lower guard comprisingmy invention.

Fig. 6' is a perspective view of the guard mount and clearly illustratesthe construction thereof.

Fig. '7 shows a schematic end view of a modified form of upper guardstructure comprising a part of my invention, the said view indicatingthe position of the upper guard when the rolls are in contact and when apiece of material is about to be fed therebetween.

Fig. 8' shows a view similar to Figure 7 showing the material of acertain thickness which has been interposed in between the wringer rollsindicating the actuation of the upper guard members,

Fig. 9 shows the maximum opening between the guard rolls when a ratherthick piece of material has been introduced therebetween.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary top view of Figure '7 elucidating more clearlythe guard structure with respect to its mounting for suitable operationas it is to be attached to the wringer proper;

Referring to the various views, in Figure 1, is shown a wringer bodygenerally designated I l which may be made of sheet material. with suit-18 of the lower roller 29 to be cradled therei h.

whereas the upper bearing 24 is provided with a slotted portion 23 whichis somewhat elongated, i c in order to permit the rollers 291 and 2| toremain in suitable contacting relationship when the force of spring 25is exerted thereupon.

The lower bearing I6 is supported which is driven into the body Thespring 25 is preferably of a flat type construction made rigid enough inorder to'exert suitable pressure between the rollers, and is secured tothe fitting 21 and within the slotted portion 26 of th said fittingwhich is also provided with a hub portion 28 in order to hold rotatablythe threaded portion 30 of the hand knob 29. The said hand knob 29 hasits threaded shank 30 working within a threaded bearing 3| which isprovided with a suitable flange 32 soldered or welded to the cover 33which encloses the spring structure. The cover 93 is enlarged asindicated at 34 and is flanged at 35 in order to permit the same to beattached securely to the frame member by any suitable means.

To the frame-work H and within its central open portion are secured thedrain; elements l3 which allow the liquid exuded from the launderedclothes interposed between the rollers to drip down and thus maintain throller structure rather dry. The rollers are, preferably, chamfered atthe ends, this feature being conducive to proper draining of the liquidpressed from the material interposed between the wringer rolls.

Within the side portions of the frame II and at their inner sides theslotted portions are indicated which areadapted to receive the guardmounts 36 which are provided with longitudinal slide or heel portions 48which fit within the slot 5|, thus preventing rotation of the guardmounts 36, inasmuch as they are mounted on the rollers. The lowerrolleris usually the driven roller'and the fiat IS on the shaft IB is providedfor suitable coupling to a handle or to power means which is usually'akind of gear train and suitable'motivating equ pment which may besecured to the lugs 6| and the holes 62 are provided for bolting the tofit rotatably thru the openings or holes 4'! and is provided with twoangular extensions 31 and 38 which are suitably drilled at 49 and alsoprovided with the threaded holes 56 adapted to receive the bindingscrews 52 which clamp into position the primary guard 39 and thesecondary guards 40 respectively by virtue of the pins 45 and 46 securedat each end of the guard. The contact surfaces of the guards withrespect to the rolls are, preferably, recessed as indicated at 4| and 42so as to permit the screws 52 to clamp the pins 45 and 46 attached tothe upper and lower guards 40 and 39, and the guards as shown arerecessed at 4| and 42 in order to permit of adjustability when therollers 29 and 2| wear as a result of continualuse. a

It can be, readily, seen from the drawings that by apin 15' 4 the guardmountings 36 float with the upper roller, whereas th ones attached tothe lower roller are merely held in place firmly by the pressure of theupper roller on the lower roller. Thus it can be seen that the guardshave a definitely mounted relationship with respect to the rolls and arein co-axial alignment with the said rolls. It is to be noted that theupper guard has a narrower portion at the center'thereof indicated 44and an angular apron or extension 43 021 each end which provide maximumconcealment 'of the roller structure so as to minimize accidentalcatching of the hand or the fingers.

A modified form of my invention is illustrated .at Figures '7, 8, 9 and10. Referring thereto, the

' lower roll 26 is similar to the on shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3-asbeing provided with a similar guard mount 36 and provided with guard 39on each side 3 suitably clamped in place by virtue of clamp screws 52.The upper roll in this particular instance, however, is equipped with adifferent type of guard which is shaped similar to the guard '49.however, the guards are provided with suitable lugs 56 which providebearing extensions 62' placed in abutting relationship and mounted onthe shaft 22.

The guards 54 are similarly shaped to the ones indicated inFigure 4 anddesignated 46, that is with angular extensions 55 'and an inwardly cutout portion 56 at the middle thereof, and operate by virtue of arcuatecam like slots 58'which.

arecaused to operate on the stationary pins 51,

the saidpins being fixedly mounted in the framework of the wringer.

A can be seen in Figure 7, when the material 53 is initially positionedto he grabbed by the rollers 20 and 2|, the guards are in the outermostposition. When the intermediate position is reached as indicated inFigure 8, the guards tend to close in more firmly, guiding the materialand the lower guard 39 acting as a stripper and preventing the materialfrom winding about the roller 20, also minimizing the opportunity-for afinger of the hand to be caught in between the roller, yet if aconsiderable thickness of material is fed in between the rolls asindicated at Figure a hand, which shows that it would be ratherdifficult for the fingers to catch in between the rolls, inasmuch as theguards have to be contacted first and the opening of the throat formedbetween the portion 44 of th upper guard and the convex surface of theguard 39 does not provide sufficient gap for the fingers to be drawn inbetween the rolls. Furthermore, if the fingers should be drawn in, theguards 39 will deflect the finger tocontact the upper roll only and moreor less protect the finger from being wedged in between the rolls; thatfeature is readily shown in Figure '2 where the finger is directedupwardly rather than between the tangential contacting surfaces of therolls.

The operation of the wringer containing my guard is very simple, theknob 29 is adjusted so that spring 25 will exert the most suitablepressure depending on the thickness of material that is to be fed inbetween the rollers for wringing purposes. The entering edge of thematerial is inserted underneath the apron 43 and permitted to rest onthe table I 2 on eitherside of the wringer, that is either from thetable l2 at the left or from the table I2 at the right, and thecorresponding direction of rotation is imparted the rollers 20 and 2|.

When the material is brought into intimate contact thru the throatportion 44 with the rolls, the said rolls will bite the edges of thematerial and grab it and cause it to be drawn thru the wringer rolls.The action of the lower guard 39 at the forward end where the materialis fed in cooperates with the upper guard in order to prevent accidentalgrabbing of the fingers or the hand of the operator, whereas, the guardwhere the material exits from the wringer causes the material to stripproperly and prevents tangling and winding about the rolls. Theoverlapping apron extensions on each end of the guard 43 prevent thehands of an operator from being mangled accidently by the mechanismoutside the range of the pressure rollers.

I believe, I have herein shown and described preferred forms of myinvention, and I realize that the same is susceptible of manymodifications, alterations, and improvements, hence I reserve the rightto all such modifications, alterations, and improvements which comewithin the scope and spirit of my herein revealed invention,

within the realm of the accompanying drawings, as well as within thepurview of the foregoing description; my invention'to be limited only bythe following claims.

Having thus described and revealed my invention what I claim as noveland desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a wringer mechanism provided with feed rollers rotatably mounted,guard means mounted so as to contact the cylindrical periphery of one ofthe said feed rollers, and complementary guard means mounted so as tocontact the cylindrical periphery of the other of said feed rollers, thesaid guard means and the said complementary guard means being disposedlongitudinally of said feed rollers and on opposed sides of the line ofcontact of said feed rollers, the said complementary guard meansprovided with apron extensions at each end thereof in over-lappingrelationship with the said first-mentioned guard means to preventaccidental mangling of the hands of an operator in that portion of thewringer extending beyond the range of the said feed rollers.

2. In a wringer mechanism provided with upper and lower feed rollers,guard means secured to the lower feed roller adapted to contact thecylindrical surface of the said lower feed roller, articulate guardmeans secured to the upper feed roller, the said articulate guard meansprovided with cam means, and pin means secured to the said wringermechanism cooperating with the said cam means to restrict the gapbetween the said first mentioned guard means and the said articulateguard means when the upper and lower feed rollers are separated.

OTTO E. JOHNSON.

